William and Nina Farrer’s Piano, c1890

45 pieces of Queanbeyan, Collection, History and Heritage News

Museum Musings- A QDHMS series published in the Queanbeyan Age

_DSC2659

William Farrer of Lambrigg is famous for his development of rust resistant wheat, earning the title of “father” of the Australian wheat industry. In 1882 Farrer married Henrietta Nina the only daughter of Leopold Fane de Salis, the then Member of Parliament for Queanbeyan.

Queanbeyan Museum is fortunate to possess a piano belonging to Nina. The piano is a small upright piano made in the 19th century by A.H. Francke of Liepzig. External condition and detailing is good, with candle holders and carved legs all undamaged. The keys are all still intact, however the piano’s internal works are damaged. It is wood veneer and has a very attractive warm patina.

The piano is connected to a significant families in the early history of Queanbeyan and to Queanbeyan Museum, in its association of place, Nina’s father having been a Magistrate since 1844 and the Old Police Sergeant’s Residence being the only building left out of the complex of Government buildings that stood here: the Courthouse, police station and Post Office. The Museum is also connected to local commemoration of Farrer, being situated in Farrer Place which contains a bust of Farrer sculpted by Rayner Hoff.

 

Focus on Quinbean – It’s Your Journal!

History and Heritage News

Quinbean Cover Vol 6 No 2 Sep 2013 Quinbean Cover Vol 3 No 1 Nov 2009 Quinbean Cover Vol 4 No 7 April 2011 Quinbean Cover Vol 5 No 3 Dec 2012 Quinbean Cover Vol 6 No 3 Dec 2013 Quinbean Cover Vol 7 No 2 Sep 2014

Did you know our Society History Journal Quinbean has been published for nine years? It was the brainchild of Andrew Blundell and Gillian Kelly way back in 2007 and since then there have been 24 editions printed. (The 25th is in production). So well worth celebrating! Of course the Society has published historical items in the early versions of the QDHMS Newsletter for many, many years and we have plans to digitise these. We would like to give Gillian Kelly, the Editor, a hand in gathering contributions to Quinbean which takes 30-40 hours per edition for her to put together. It is your Journal and we would love your contributions!

Here is a quick FAQ to contributing:

What content is desirable? Make it your journal!  We’d like to cast the net fairly widely and welcome anything to do with Queanbeyan and district history. We want Quinbean to be accessible and not too stuffy! Family and oral history, interesting photographs, poetry and personal stories and memories are great.

Acknowledgements: Please use a footnote where you have quoted another Author or source directly; also acknowledge any sources at the end of your article. You will need to adhere to the Copyright Act and if photographs are still in Copyright, gain approval of the Copyright owner to use the photographs you include in the article.

Will my work be published in the next Edition after I contribute? The Editor tries to do this. Sometimes to maintain a balance contributions may be held over for a later edition.

What length is accepted? Small and interesting snippets are absolutely fine. Three or four A4 pages is the usual length for an article. A longer article would be accepted but may be split over more than one edition.

What format is accepted? Electronic files are preferred in Calibri or Times New Roman 12pt, but these can be converted. If you don’t have access to word-processing or the internet then typed pages can be scanned and handwritten contributions are Ok as they can be retyped for you.

How do I submit? Send Attention The Editor, Quinbean as an e-mail attachment to qbnmuseum@yahoo.com.au Or by post (hard copy or USB) to QDHMS PO Box 480 Queanbeyan 2620 NSW Or drop it into the Museum on a weekend between 1-4.

How often is it published? Contributions are welcome at any time and will be stockpiled for future editions. Published three times a year: March / April for the annual Heritage Festival; August / September for History Week and in December. The Editor starts work on a new edition 2- 3 months out from publication date.

Quinbean Indexing Project
Quinbean is an important repository of local history. Would you like to make it more accessible? There is a full run of Quinbean at the Museum and the QCC Library. Copies are also sent to the NLA, the Canberra Historical Society and the ACT Heritage Library. We have been asked a number of times if there is an index to Quinbean, so we thought the time was right at 25 editions to see if anyone would be interested in working with Gillian Kelly on this? Contact the President, John McGlynn or the Editor, Gillian Kelly, if you are interested in discussing what might be involved.

Quinbean Volumes:
Volume 1: No. 1, June 2007; No. 2, October 2007.
Volume 2: No. 1, Feb 2008; No. 2, June 2008; No. 3, Jan 2009; No. 4, May 2009.
Volume 3: No. 1, Nov 2009; No. 2, April 2010; No. 3, Aug 2010; No. 4, Dec 2010.
Volume 4: No. 1, April 2011; No. 2, September 2011; No. 3, December 2011.
Volume 5: No. 1, April 2012; No. 2, August 2012; No. 3, December 2012.
Volume 6: No. 1, April 2013; No. 2, September 2013; No. 3, December 2013.
Volume 7: No. 1, April 2014; No. 2, September 2014; No 3, January, 2015.
Volume 8: No. 1, April 2015; No. 2, September 2015.